Plant Guide

Amaranth : Mayo Indian

Beautiful maroon red seed heads, edible leaves

Beautiful maroon-flowered, black-seeded variety. From Sonora, Mexico, this black-seeded Amaranth is a very vigorous variety with sturdy stalks. Primarily used for grain or to make pinole and atole. The leaves may also be used like spinach. The stalks, leaf veins, and large seed heads are colored a beautiful maroon red, providing a bright contrast to the green foliage. Makes a nice ornamental as well.

This is an example of the timeline you would see based on your growing conditions.

Amaranth: Grain

Mayo Indian

Amaranth is a high protein grain that has considerable potential as a garden scale grain crop. It is of particular interest because it can be used immediately, without any hulling, leaching or other processing.

Amaranth is a tropical plant that uses C4 photosynthesis (like corn and sunflower), which makes it particularly efficient in high heat and light intensities. Plant Amaranth in a warm sheltered spot with full sun.

Amaranth grows fast and produces a lot of nutrition, so it's not surprising that it is a fairly hungry plant. It does best on a well-drained and fertile soil, similar to that for corn. If growing for seed, it will require more fertilizer than if you're growing it for leaves.